


It's a Wonderful Life

by themadgirlinthebluebox



Series: Have Yourself A Kiam Little Christmas [6]
Category: The Royals (TV 2015)
Genre: 12 Days of Kiam-mas, Christmas, Christmas Movies, F/M, kiam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-23 04:26:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17073455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themadgirlinthebluebox/pseuds/themadgirlinthebluebox
Summary: "For the last time, The Nightmare Before Christmas is not a Christmas movie."Liam slid down the couch and crossed his arms. "Then why is Christmas in the title, Kathryn?"Or the one where Liam and Kathryn reflect on holiday traditions and start a new one of their own.





	It's a Wonderful Life

**Author's Note:**

> How days are there to go?

"For the last time, The Nightmare Before Christmas is not a Christmas movie."

Liam slid down the couch and crossed his arms. "Then why is Christmas in the title, Kathryn?"

"I'm done having this conversation." She tossed a piece of popcorn at his head. "We watched it in October so we wouldn't have to watch it now."

It was a somewhat dreary Saturday afternoon, the wind howled outside and the snow was piling on the windowsills. Liam and Kathryn had decided to spend the day watching Christmas movies. This was for two reasons really, Kathryn felt like they hadn't watched enough and because they were tired of the news.

Two days had passed since they had gone public with the engagement and baby news. And if anything, it had been too well received. Sure there was some backlash from traditionalists. For the most part, though, the public was thrilled at the idea of a royal wedding  _and_ a royal baby. From what they had seen on TV and heard from Helena people liked the idea of the royal family taking a step into the 21st century. But perhaps most satisfyingly of all, it seemed that people thought they were more interesting than Robert and Willow. Kathryn had pretended not to see Liam's smug grin when he heard that.

So Christmas movies seemed like a better choice. They had watched all the standards, Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street, The Grinch and The Holiday. But Liam was growing bored.

"We've watched Love Actually four times this week. Seriously, I'm tired of watching Hugh Grant dance."

She shushed him. "You're just upset that you can't dance. And it's nearly over, this the best part."

Onscreen, all the couples reunited in the airport and the music swelled. Kathryn sniffed and placed her head on Liam's shoulder, the ends of movies always made her cry but now it was even worse. Natalie jumped into Hugh Grant's arms and Liam turned to Kathryn.

"Is that going to be us when I get home from somewhere?"

"No, we're much cuter and I'd go with you." She said matter of factly. "Obviously."

Liam leaned forward on the couch and rested his chin in his hand. The Beach Boys song slowly faded out and the camera panned to different people hugging in the airport terminal.

"God only knows what I'd be without you." She hummed along to the end credits as she stood to change out the DVD. "You can't tell me you don't like that movie. It's a classic."

"No, no, I do. Just not on a loop, I could probably quote it in my sleep." He shook out his arms and took a fresh gingerbread man from the plate. "Now what?"

She pulled a case from the shelf. "It's a Wonderful Life?"

He actually was excited at this. "Yeah, it was my father's favorite."

"No way, it was my mum's favorite too."

The memory seemed to come out of nowhere but he still smiled. "When we were kids, he would give the staff the day off. And after we had dinner and whatnot he'd drag us all into the screening room and play this. Even my mum would watch it with us. I haven't seen it in years."

Kathryn had joined him on the couch once more and took his hand. "Mum insisted it was the only Christmas movie worth watching. She'd make popcorn and Angie and I managed to stop arguing long enough to watch it with our parents."

"I miss him every day." Liam's voice was far away. "Our last Christmas was nice, but we didn't know it was the last. Maybe if we had it would have felt more special, I don't know."

"I know what you mean. Well, we knew it was the last Christmas Mum would be around for. But yeah, I miss her every day." She kissed the side of Liam's face and brushed her thumb over the back of his hand. "Dad tries every year. But I don't know, this is the first Christmas in almost ten years that feels normal."

A quiet, nostalgic kind of silence filled the room. Losing a parent was something they had bonded over straight away. It was fresher for Liam than it was for Kathryn. But being with someone who understood was comforting. She never talked about her mum in detail but he knew she had been sick for a long time and that she and her sister were both spitting images of her.

"Really?"

She wore a tight expression but her voice was soft. "Yeah, doing this, all the Christmas stuff reminds me of her."

The fact that he could make this time of year easier for her made him proud. "That makes me happy. It's not my favorite holiday but if I can make it better, I'm glad."

"What would Christmas be without a dead parent, right?" She deadpanned. When Liam gave her an alarmed look, she flushed. "Sorry, bad timing. Angie and I used to joke that we were a few steps away from being a Hallmark movie. We've had time to accept it."

"As I said, you have a twisted sense of humor." Liam laughed, despite himself. "My dad would have liked you."

"You think so?"

"Without a doubt. He wanted me to be happy and liked to make jokes too. Most world leaders don't actually laugh, but my father did. He would have been glad I decided to be with someone that I was in love with, not someone that I picked from a list."

Kathryn just smiled and played with the edge of the blanket. "Mum definitely would have liked you. She always told me to be with someone who wasn't afraid to have fun. I was a serious kid, so she was always trying to lighten the mood. And she would have thought you were just the right amount of reckless."

"So does this mean I get to be the fun parent?"

The solemn mood had been broken and she elbowed him. "No, it certainly does not. If anything, I should be the fun parent because I wasn't a fun kid."

"I don't know." Liam held a hand to her stomach and whispered conspiratorially. "I think your mum's going to be the one who makes you clean your room."

"Well someone has to."

He gave a satisfied hum and pointed at her. "See, I rest my case."

"I get to be the fun one during Christmas at the very least." She let her hand rest on top of his. "And I think we should start a tradition."

"What's that?"

Kathryn's eyes were bright as she nodded to the screen. "Every year on Christmas, after dinner, we'll watch It's a Wonderful Life. We'll make it a thing just like our parents did. I'll make popcorn, we could have a screening room. It'll be great, that way she at least shares something else with her grandparents."

Liam's face broke into a grin and he kissed her. "I love you, you know that? I'm completely behind this."

"Good. And I love you too."

The wind whistled outside and the streetlights were blotted out by the snow. But inside, they settled in under the blankets and watched the old black and white movie. They took comfort in the familiar storyline but found excitement in the new tradition. Kathryn's fingers traced circles on Liam's leg and his breathing was slow. She was certain he was asleep. But then his lips were pressed to her ear and he mumbled tiredly.

"Maybe we could make The Nightmare Before Christmas part of the tradition too."

"That's not a Christmas movie." She reminded, before kissing him. "But nice try."

**Author's Note:**

> AN: This was short and sweet. Thanks for reading!


End file.
